Cold and wet in North Africa

Around 20 per cent of the December average rainfall fell in Tripoli on Wednesday leaving streets under water. [EPA]

The stormy weather that has been swirling away across Greece and Turkey has brought some unseasonably cold, wet and windy weather onto the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Over the last few days temperatures have struggled to reach double figures in the capital cities of both Tunisia and Libya.

Malta has also been feeling the impact of the stormy weather in the region. Heavy rain, hail and thunder battered the nation earlier this week. Several streets were flooded and the hailstorm was so severe that it left a layer of ice that resembled a blanket of snow.

The temperature in Luqa dipped to a December record low of just 2 Celsius on Wednesday morning setting up a cold New Year’s Eve with a high of just 7 degrees.

Tunis has felt the brunt of the chilly blast with a high of 6 Celsius on Tuesday. It would have felt a good deal colder than that though as severe gales battered Tunisia. A gust of 100kph was reported at one stage.

The worst of the weather is now spilling across the far north of Libya. Heavy rain has caused some flooding here too.

On Wednesday Tripoli recorded 18mm. That represents a fifth of the December average in just one day.

The temperature here got no higher than 11 degrees compared to an average of 18 Celsius. Temperatures should be up around that average by Monday afternoon.